President Donald Trump this week signed an Executive Order (EO) directing federal regulators that for every small-business regulation promulgated, two shall be identified for elimination.
Upon signing the order, Trump tweeted on his official account @realDonaldTrump:
The American dream is back. We’re going to create an environment for small business like we haven’t had in many, many decades! pic.twitter.com/ZuJNaN6z8b
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 30, 2017
Business Leaders Applaud Trump’s Executive Order to Cut Regulations
Business leaders across the nation applauded Trump’s January 30, 2017 signing of the EO, hailing the move as needed to ease the regulatory burden weighing down America’s small businesses.
National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) President and CEO, Juanita Duggan, in response to Trump’s executive order said:
“The President’s order is a good first step on the long road toward eliminating ball-and-chain regulations so small businesses can create jobs and expand the economy.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce also welcomed the president’s order to cut regulations:
“The U.S. Chamber applauds the president for fulfilling the campaign’s promise to take on the regulatory juggernaut that is limiting economic growth, choking small business, and putting people out of work,” said Thomas J. Donohue, Chamber of Commerce President and CEO, in a statement regarding the EO.
The National Small Business Association (NSBA) also applauded Trump’s executive order, noting that the average small-business owner is spending at least $12,000 every year dealing with regulations, according to its recently-released 2017 Small Business Regulations Survey (PDF).
“President Trump’s executive order to rein-in the massive federal regulatory web is very welcome first step,” said NSBA President and CEO Todd McCracken in a statement.
In his executive order, Trump also directed the heads of all agencies to ensure that the total incremental cost of all new regulations for fiscal year 2017 shall be no greater than zero.
President Donald Trump Photo via Shutterstock
The idea of cutting two regulations for every new one is simple, but powerful. It makes lawmakers think harder about a new regulation (since it now has an added “cost”) and will help get rid of legacy regulations that have been ineffective or even harmful. Ultimately it’s not sustainable forever due to the math, but if it has some time to eliminate the dead wood I think it will be very helpful.
Tsujio Kato
I’m not entirely sure this is a good thing for small business. Trump’s friends aren’t exactly owners of small businesses like a family restaurant or an auto shop. These regulations were put in place to deal with companies like ENRON, who artificially inflated stocks and commit all sorts of cases of fraud, and the last thing we want is a repeat of the recession. There’s no real way that this wasn’t designed for big businesses only in mind.